


Recruitment

by ElementalPower



Series: The Recruit [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF SHIELD Agents, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Maria Hill & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, SHIELD Agents in Training, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-23 00:15:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7459105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElementalPower/pseuds/ElementalPower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is one of the worst days for Maria Hill. Showing potentials around S.H.E.I.L.D. This day, in particular, might be more interesting than she first imagined, or annoying take your pick.</p><p>For Carter Williams, this could definitely be the start so something new. As long as it doesn't get ruined by her already crazy life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not all of the tags refer to this story in particular, for example, the relationship tags. This is just my end goal for this series, so now no one can say that they were blindsided, or that I tricked them to read a series with something that they didn't want to read. This one in particular, as well as probably the next one, is just setting up some background for some important original characters as well as establishing some of my takes on characters that I do not own.
> 
> You have been warned. Don't complain later down the line. DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ.

Maria Hill was not a fan of these days. She knew they were necessary, but this could truly be the worst of them. She went through this once; she didn't want to again. This was truly the worst punishment that Directory Fury could have come up with.

 

And she had been completely right.

 

Hill slumped as she walked toward the loud chattering in the front rotunda where groups of...children, really, were standing. These children were here to interview. Not that they knew that, already. To them, they were just touring the place where they could possibly work.

 

Looking around the room, she saw the faces of those who felt like they were more than good enough to fit into the ranks. The reality that they would soon be here was almost worth the agony that she had to go through. Almost.

 

Hill loudly cleared her throat as the interview was about to start. Soon, the outskirts of the rotunda were completely filled with agents who were previously hiding in the shadows holding plastic containers.

 

Now that all of the young eyes were on her, it was time to announce herself to the class.

 

"Welcome, new recruits, to the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Many just know us as S.H.I.E.L.D. You are here because you are the best in the skills that we need: physical and mental. Now, before we tour the facility, give all of your belongings to the agents around the room. You will need nothing but the clothes on your back. And if you think you are being sneaky, you will be going through a metal detector.

 

"We know all the tricks; we created some of them. If we find you doing anything you're not supposed to, you will be escorted out of the building and your trial will be over. Any questions?"

 

"What do you mean by trial?" a small girl with way more blonde highlights than should be legal asked.

 

"Good questions. You all may be the best of the best, but we are looking for the very best of you, and if you get along with some of our other agents.

 

"If there is nothing else, get rid of your stuff and line up."

 

Hopefully, this goes better than most. There have been horror stories from some of the other agents who she spoke with before coming to this little meeting. There have been spies from other agencies who thought that they could get past the facial recognition system or the pat down that sometimes occurs with the security system went off wasn't too intensive. There was just no telling what would happen. There were jokes among some of the agents that SHIELD was just the TSA, just so much worse.

 

Whilst daydreaming, Hill heard the metal detectors go off. Every single one of them. It was as if a huge the siren they had on the helicarrier had gone off, it was that load. If Maria wasn't seasoned in hiding her emotions, she would have been cringing at the sheer intensity.

 

The agents manning the metal detectors were luckily prepared for if this were to happen to pull out hand-held ones. They waved the wants around the remaining found in the group. The rest passed and walked along through, but Maria couldn't help but notice the girl in the back of the group who had a huge blush covering her face.

 

Looking up from the girl, Maria saw a familiar face looking straight at her which looked at the girl in turn before nodding. The face then disappeared from her sight. If something was wrong, Maria would know by the end of the day. There was no question about that.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey," a voice out of nowhere asked.

 

Carter spun around quickly. She didn't remember doing anything blatantly wrong. Yes, there was that weird thing that the metal, but that wasn't her fault...at least it shouldn't have been.

 

In front of her was a friendly face, one of those that she saw milling around in the rotunda.

 

"Hi," she said softly, still embarrassed from being wanded.

 

"That was weird, right? With the metal detectors and everything?"

 

"Definitely weird."

 

"Makes you wonder what caused it."

 

"Maybe the introduction of too many people's electromagnetic fields," Carter said cheekily. Might as well make a joke about the situation.

 

"Bryce Jenkins," the friendly face says, holding out his hand.

 

"Carter Williams," she replied, pulling her hand out of her pocket to shake his hand.

 

"Williams?"

 

"Yeah, It's a pretty common last name."

 

"It's also the name of the director of the C.I.A."

 

"I see that I can't leave the shadow of my father," Carter said sulkily.

 

This was supposed to be a new start, away from anyone who would have known who her father was. Do things of her own merit. Not get anything because of who her father was. Also, because it seemed like having an association with her father prevented her from things, like a real job.

 

"What...?" before he could finish, the entire group was brought to order.

 

The woman whose name no one knew was standing in front of the room again looking a bit stiffer than she had before. It was quite obvious to Carter that she didn't want to be there. Her brain seemed to be working on overdrive while looking for a way to pretend to be neutral.

 

"Now that everyone is through, we will now walk through the facility," the woman said before turning around with the corral following behind her.

 

For the majority of the tour, Carter was people watching more so than facility watching. The people around usually decided things for her, but of course, she couldn't help nearly drooling at the sheer number of computers that were around. What she could do to those babies. She always wanted to work on a large project. Maybe she would have the chance to.

 

Bryce stood at her side for the majority of the tour. She could tell that he was up to something, but every time she looked at him, he was looking at the things they were being shown. Maybe she was making it up, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

 

But back to people watching.

 

Unfortunately, the group included that group of girls who seem to be in every movie ever. The ones that would groom themselves whenever someone walked by and push their breasts up in their shirts to make them look bigger. Carter inwardly groaned at the fact that they were doing this. They were in their twenties. Was this really a thing? Who was she kidding? Of course, it was a thing. And it seemed like some of the guys were entranced by it.

 

'Maybe they had nice personalities,' she thought with false hope. She had heard them say "like" about twenty thousand times since they had started.

 

They ended up in a gym facility from the looks of it. There were already people milling around in the middle as they were directed to seating off to the side.

 

"You'll be in here for about an hour to watch some things that you will be learning while you're here. Your specialty might not be muscle, but you are still going to need to learn some things. Feel free to talk if you want. I'll be back when it's time to leave."

 

The woman immediately left after her statement. The rest of the room seemed to relax some. The rest of the room was brought into loud gossiping chatter. Carter didn't let it bother her. Fighting was something she was somehow good at. She had to be living with two boys and an older sister. While the rest of the room talked, she focused on the fighting that was taking place. Not even Bryce, who was trying to pull her into a conversation about something other than fighting pulled her out of the almost trance.


	3. Chapter 3

"Have we found anything?" Maria Hill said as she walked into the darkened room.

 

The room had a large screen on one of the walls while the rest of the room was filled with agents sitting in front of computer screens.

 

"All twenty of them have tracking and hearing devices. Everything is ready to go," an agent standing near the door said.

 

"Good. How long should they work for?"

 

"Should stay on the skin for a couple of days."

 

"Good job, Agent Lawson."

 

Maria was about to leave the room when another voice spoke up.

 

"Sir, there's a problem with one of the devices."

 

Agent Lawson was the first one over to an agent that was in a far corner of the room.

 

"What's wrong with it?" Lawson demanded.

 

"There is some type of interference."

 

"What type of interference?" Hill asked, walking over and loving over the agent's shoulder.

 

"I don't know."

 

"What do you mean you don't know," Lawson yelled.

 

"I'm getting absolutely nothing. It's almost as if it's broken, which is impossible because we checked them all yesterday."

 

"Whose is it?" Hill asked.

 

"This device was assigned to Agent Gibbons." The agent responded after clicking some buttons.

 

"I need someone to follow them for the next few days them. There is no way we can get another opening to install another device."

 

"I can do it," a voice called from up above.

 

Everyone looked up at the grating in the center of the room on the ceiling was moved. A person quickly made its way out of the hole and was just hanging there. There was the sound of the grate moving again before the person dropped, landing on his feet.

 

"Why are you here, Clint? Don't you have anything else you could be doing?" Hill asked, exasperated. He was supposed to be Coulson's problem.

 

"I was bored, thus, I am here," Clint said as he pulled out and sat down in an empty seat. "So what's the problem that you need my help with?"

 

"As if you didn't hear. And you help?"

 

"Well, I am offering. Wouldn't want your job of watching over the kiddies to go wrong, would we?" Clint said mockingly. He knew she didn't want this to get back to Fury if he hadn't found out about it already.

 

"Fine," Hill grounded out. "You're going to do it anyways."

 

"I would never," Clint said saucily before standing up. "Who am I stalking?"

 

Hill did nothing more than point at the large screen in the room. The screen was showing a portion of the gym, the portion where the "kiddies" were staying. Her finger was pointing at a small brunette who was sitting on the front row of the bleachers who was talking to a taller person with short jet-black hair. Unlike everyone else, they were facing forward, actually paying attention to the fighting that was taking place.

 

Maria walked over to another desk, one that held twenty files. She sorted through a couple of them before taking one from the bottom of the pile. She walked over and handed it over to Clint. he immediately started flipping through it, pushing the information to his memory before handing it back to Maria.

 

"Time to get back," Maria said out loud, expecting Clint to follow her.

 

The two of them walked out of the room and down a large corridor. They went their separate ways at a form in the way.

 

Calling over her shoulder, Maria said, "Don't let me down, Barton."

 

He didn't make a sound of acknowledgment, but she knew he wouldn't let her down.


	4. Chapter 4

Carter was broken out of her trance by a sound of closing doors. She looked over to the left and watched as the strange woman walked back into the gym from where ever she had been. She would have checked the time, but she gave her watch up in the beginning.

 

"Time to go," was all that she had said before all of them stood up and began to file out of the gym. The fighters kept going, not distracted by the announcement if one could call it that.

 

They were all led back to the rotunda that they began where small baskets were lining the wall, filled with the items they gave up in the beginning. Carter found her stuff in a far corner separated from everything. Feeling the weight of her bag and a cursory look through, she determined that all of her stuff was still there. She pulled her phone out and turning it on again, she determined that she still had time to walk to the nearby bus station. Looking around, Carter didn't see the woman who led them here, so Carter started walking to the exit, hoping that she wouldn't be randomly stopped, and she wasn't.

 

Carter was half-way through the parking lot when she was finally stopped.

 

"Hey, Carter, whatcha' doing?" Bryce called from behind her.

 

"Walking...," she replied.

 

"Where?" Bryce asked intrudingly.

 

"To the bus stop. It's not too far away from here."

 

"Why don't you let me give you a ride?"

 

"I'm fine. Thanks, though." Carter said before turning around and quickly walking away from the guy who was getting way too close.

 

Carter thought she heard him say something behind her, but she decided to ignore him.

 

It took her about ten minutes to walk to the bus stop, giving her five minutes to spare before the bus came. Carter sat underneath the streetlight that was constantly flashing. After a while, the flashing stopped, much to Carter's relief. Playing the addicting game on her phone, or many considering the fact that she kept finishing levels and refused to spend money, while she waited. Almost as if no time had passed, the bus roared around the corner. Carter stood up waiting for the bus to stop in front of her.

 

"Good evening," Carter said as she handed the bus driver her bus card, receiving a grunt in response as well as her card back.

 

Walking toward the back of the bus where there were plenty of empty seats, she got her phone back out as she had a half-hour ride to her apartment building.

 

"More levels to beat," Carter quietly muttered to herself.

 

Around her, the sound of people getting on and off the bus continued until he got to her stop. Calling out "thank you" as she got off, she walked into the nondescript building in front of her. She opened the front door as the bell dinged.

 

"Hey, Carter," a raspy voice called from the desk in front of her.

 

"Hey, Mal," she replied, reaching to press the up button for the elevator.

 

"How did the job interview go?"

 

"It was not what I was expecting."

 

"What was weird about it?"

 

"It honestly didn't feel like an interview."

 

"Maybe they just called so they could spy on you."

 

"You distrust in the government is hilarious, Mal. See you later," Carter called out as she walked as the elevator dinged open.

 

"You never know!" Mal yelled after her.

 

"Good night, Mal," she said through the closing elevator doors as she pressed the three button.

 

As the doors reopen, Carter let the exhaustion of the day get to her. By going to said job interview, she got really behind in the work she already had. Getting her keys out of her side pocket, she opened the door to her small apartment. It felt like a college dorm room, at least she thought it did.

 

She placed her keys into the bowl that she had on a counter next to the door, which also held a small safe, she walked into her kitchen, opening her practically empty freezer and refrigerator, finding enough to make herself a sandwich. Looking around at her empty apartment, Carter hoped that for once, the world would feel like it was on her side.


	5. Chapter 5

Carter awoke to the annoying beeping beside her head. Trying to hit the snooze button, she heard a loud bang against the floor. Groaning, she sat up as the beeping got continually louder. Seeing the alarm clock on the far side of the side table, she walked over to it and turned it off. No point in trying to go back to sleep now.

 

Thinking back to last night, Carter groaned at the fact that she would have to go grocery shopping. At least it was a somewhat tolerable form of shopping. Walking over to the bathroom, Carter looked into the mirror, looking at the terrible dark bags underneath her eyes. She also noticed that the brown of her hair wasn't very prominent anymore. Luckily no one noticed yesterday. Thankfully, she had recently bought more brown hair dye the last time she was at the store.

 

Undressing, she sighed at the fact that her stomach was rumbling. Too bad she had been too bust to get food. She shouldn't be living off of take-out. What would her father say? Why must she think of him at times like this? She loved him, but it was kinda his fault that things were like this.

 

After her cold shower and reapplying her hair dye, Carter got dressed in a comfy pair of sweats and an oversized hood. Grabbing her bag that she left by the door the night before and the grocery list that she had also written, she grabbed her keys and wallet and walked out of the door towards the elevator.

 

Once off, she saw that Mal was no longer at the desk. He usually was this early in the morning unless something urgent happened within the building. Shrugging it off, Carter exited the building and started walking to a small, nearby grocery store. It was usually quiet this early in the morning, just the way she liked it.

 

The cashier at the front of the store, tiredly smiled at Carter, recognizing her from the many times that she had shopped there, Grabbing a basket, she went about her business, ignoring the strange feeling in her stomach. It shouldn't have gotten to her, what Mal said, but it started to. It was no secret that SHIELD was pretty secretive in terms of government, and they would have done an extensive background check on her. Hopefully, there is nothing there...this time.

 

Walking back to the front of the store once again, she quickly checkout out, needing to get work done. Walking back with the heavy bags in her hands and thinking heavily about her work, she didn't notice the person in front of her until she completely bumped into him or her. Because of her heavy bags, she was unable to balance herself, causing her to fall straight down onto her butt.

 

"Are you alright?" a masculine voice talked from above her.

 

Looking up, she saw a very attractive dirty blond kneeling in front of her, eyes hidden behind dark aviators with a subtle smirk resting on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Carter looked up, opening and closing her mouth instead of actually talking. There was no way that his guy was talking to her. Absolutely no way. Usually, when she bumped into people, they were either completely rude or just ignored her. But no, this gorgeous guy is kneeling here to see if she is okay.

 

"Did you hit your head or something? I didn't think that I ran into you that hard," the guy said to her.

 

Actually being able to say something, "No, it's fine. Just not used to someone saying anything."

 

Instead of continuing to stare at the guy, she stood up and brushed her clothes off. Turning around, she started to collect her groceries from the ground.

 

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

 

"No, it's fine. I can get it." Standing up with her hulking mass of bags.

 

Instead of leaving, like Carter expected him to, he grabbed some of the bags from her, lessening her load.

 

"You don't have to do that."

 

"I know, but you look like you could use the help."

 

"Thanks then," Carter said, a massive amount of blush spreading across her face.

 

"Jeremy."

 

"What?" Carter looked at him with confusion.

 

"My name. My name's Jeremy."

 

"Oh, my bad."

 

"So your name is My Bad," Jeremy teased her.

 

"No... My name is Carter."

 

"What way to your apartment?"

 

"Just follow me, I guess."

 

Carter was happy that her apartment was close by. It was kinda awkward knowing that there was some guy that she didn't know walking behind her. It took everything in her not to stumble and trip onto her face. She could still feel the heat consuming her, but at least, she could blame it on the humid heat that was holding the city hostage.

 

All too soon, but not soon enough, Carter and Jeremy got to the apartment complex. Never before had she been uncomfortable showing someone where she lived, but that is mostly because no one other than her family knew she where she lived.

 

Walking into the complex, she once again saw Mal sitting at the front desk. Once he saw her, he told her:

 

"Your sisters are looking for you."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Your sisters are at your apartment looking for you. The older one said that they knew they were early but had no choice in the matter. Sent them on up, because I thought you would still be in."

 

"Thanks, Mal," she said while pressing the up button. The elevator was thankfully already on the floor.

 

Both of them stepped in, avoiding looking at each other causing an awkward moment while Carter pressed the button to the correct floor. The trip couldn't have been any longer for a two-floor ride. When the doors opened, she immediately heard her older sister's voice coming down the hallway.

 

"Could you be any louder?" Carter called out to her.

 

"Yes," was the reply.

 

Rounding the corner stood a tall brunette and a tiny blonde. The brunette had a smirk on her face when she saw Carter that only exponentially grew when she saw Jeremy. She lifted her eyebrow in a silent interrogation that Carter decided to ignore. Handing her sister the groceries, she unlocked and open the door, ushing everyone inside. Never before had Carter been happy that she was naturally neat or else she would have been more embarrassed that she already was. Jeremy followed her older sister into the kitchen where they quickly unloaded her hands.

 

"So why are you here, Nina?" Carter asked.

 

"I got called into the lab."

 

"But it's Saturday. They can't make you work."

 

"But they can apparently. They've started to do it a lot more."

 

"Can't the university say anything. It has to be considered discrimination."

 

"I've talked to the head of the department. The reasoning is that since I'm just a student, I can be told to work the harder hours since there aren't any undergrads this semester."

 

"So, they can't do anything."

 

"Until I get my doctorate, I'm kinda stuck."

 

"But that's not for another couple of years."

 

"Yeah, woe is me. So I need you to watch Danni for me. Mom and Dad are bust, I already asked them. But I have to go, and you need to get her to stop staring at you guest like that. Bye."

 

Nina quickly left the apartment, and Carter turned around to see Danni tilting her head while staring at Jeremy, who was leaning against the wall staring back at Danni with a questioning look on his face.

 

"So," Carter started, knocking the two of them out of their trance, "thanks for the help. You really didn't have to."

 

"No problem, I'll just let myself out then. Maybe I'll see you around."

 

"Yeah, maybe," she said to his back. Turning back around, she saw Danni looking at her with a soft smile.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing that Clint did was make sure that the older sister was no longer in the hallway, before taking his phone out. The camera that he had placed inside, already connected to his internal server at SHIELD and to his phone, was perfectly aimed to see the main areas of the apartment and recording all of the audio coming from the inside. Placing his phone back into his pocket, he walked to the emergency exit that he had scouted out earlier that wouldn't walk past the man that manned the front desk. All background information led the fact that he wasn't very trustful of people yet had an amazing aptitude for remembering faces. Although he wore his sunglasses the entire time, no reason to give the man another chance to see his face.

 

Once outside, Clint took the back alleys to a car that was parked a few blocks away. He hadn't planned on it being that easy to get into her apartment. Thankfully, Carter had no groceries and hadn't paid any attention to what was going on. And she was all too trusting. Fortunately, people who were like that usually didn't have anything to hide, although the look on Hill's face led him to believe something else.

 

Before walking out of an alley, he looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He quickly walked across the street and unlocked the car doors before sitting in the driver's seat and blasting the air conditioning. A few seconds later, the passenger door opened and someone sat in the seat.

 

"I didn't know that you were such a gentleman," the voice coming from the person now sitting beside him.

 

"Oh come on, Nat. If I were to do that with you, you would probably kick my ass for it."

 

"Probably," she said with a giant smirk showing on her face.

 

Leaning back, Natasha grabbed the file that was kept on the floor between the seats and began reading it. Instead of commenting on the different noises Nat was making, Clint started to drive towards the interstate.

 

"She's cute," Nat noted instead.

 

"Yeah...," Clint voiced back.

 

"What did Hill want with her?"

 

"The tracker that she's wearing wasn't working, and Hill thought that there was something fishy going on."

 

"Fishy, how?"

 

"Did you hear about how when the recruits came in, all of the metal detectors went off?" Knowing she did, he continued. "Well, apparently this one was blushing like a virgin bride. Gibbons also tried talking to her yet never really goy anywhere with her. She also really likes watching people fight, although there really isn't anything in her file to lead to that conclusion, especially since she is a computer wiz."

 

"Think there is something that should be looked into?"

 

"Is she hiding something? Probably. Is it something against SHIELD? I highly doubt it, but you know how anal Fury is about protocol."

 

"Better not let him hear tou say something about it. You don't want to be next. Hill says it's horrible."

 

"How is he going to find out?" Clint cheekily asked her, turning towards her.

 

"When will you learn that Fury always finds out," Natasha replied pushed his head so that he was watching the road.

 

After a few minutes of Natasha looking at the scenery, she got bored. She never really seen the city before, but it was like every other city with governmental important. Instead, she devided to reach for Clint's back pocket where she knew he kept his phone.

 

"Woah, what do you think you're doing?"

 

Instead of answer the idiot, she unlocked his phone. The idiot never changes his password. She pulled up the footage from the camera that was placed in the girl's apartment.

 

Over the speaker, she heard two giggles: one high-pitched and the other at a lower volume. On the scree, she saw the girl that was in the file and a much shorter one in the kitchen putting together was looked like a pizza.

 

"Does she have a child?"

 

"Nope, From what I can tell, that's one of her sisters."

 

From the phone speaker came a sweet voice saying "You should have seen your face. It was hilarious."

 

"It was not funny," the girl, Carter, said indignantly.

 

"It was. You had hearts in your eyes, you heart was pounding faster with every breath. You din't even have to be me in order to tell."

 

"You're twelve! You really shouldn't be saying or, honestly, know what that feels like."

 

"First, I'm almost thirteen. Second, we live in a big city. I have feelers everywhere. That and my school is right next to the high school. It's not that weird when you feel it every single day during math."

 

"You are way too grown for your own good."

 

"I completly blame you. And Nina, but mainly you. You made me read grown-up books." The last part was said with such disgust, you didn't have to look at her face to tell what expression she was making. It made Natasha gently laugh.

 

"Hey, you can't be an amazing artist without being able to read contracts. What will you do if someone tries to scame you?"

 

"Tell Dad about it and have them arrested," she said directly.

 

Carter, on the screen, just shook her head and quietly said, "Dad can't help with everything you know."

 

"But he can sure try," the little girl said just as quietly while trying to sound sure of herself.

 

For a while, they stopped talking and focused on the pizza that was in front of them. Instead of continuing to watch, Natasha closes the link to the camera and shut off the phone.

 

"Is it just me, or was the conversation...wierd?" Clint asked her, moving his head back and forth between her and the road.

 

"Maybe it's based on inside jokes," Natasha replied, but not truly believign it herself. There was truly something up, but nothing that spoke volumes.

 

By that point, the two had made it to the fake SHIELD headquarters. It was considered brilliant of course. If anyone thought that they could trick SHIELD into letting themselves into the organization, they had another thing coming.

 

Once parked, Hill walked out of the shadows. "Did you get it?" she asked.

 

"Done and done. Did you ever doubt me?" Clint asked her mockingly.

 

"Yes," Hill stated and walked back into the shadows and out of the room.

 

"Did I do anything to her?" Clint asked Natasha while wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

 

Natasha just shook his head while the two of them walked side by side out of the garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell from one of the sentences, I'm not going to have that craziness from Winter Soldier with a huge mass of Hydra agents joining SHIELD.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been weeks before Carter heard anything else. Not only had she lost faith in getting the job, she also lost faith in herself. 'She had other skills than computers,' she wanted to scream into the abyss. She could speak three other languages: Spanish, German and Japanese. She could learn more if that was what was required. That was a skill, wasn't it? The ability to learn languages easily. She could also program.

 

It was often asked of her that if being good at computers just automatically meant that you were going to be good at programming. She always wanted to slam her head against a wall, a really hard wall. Programming was a language. Oh, make that four different languages.

 

She was also a... Not, that wouldn't help. If anything, that would make sure that she wasn't going to get the job. She was brought out of her thoughts by the ringing of her landline. She walked to her kitchen and picked up the line.

 

"Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

 

"Hey, Carter, you have a package here. What did you order girl?" Mal's voice came from the other end.

 

"I didn't order anything."

 

"Doesn't really matter. It's addressed to you. You gotta come down and get it," Mal said as he hung up. Carter quickly got her keys out of the bowl and made her way down the hall towards the stairs and flew down them. Once she was downstairs, she walked towards where Mal was stationed.

 

From down the hallway, she could see the humongous package that Mal was referencing. As soon as Mal saw her, he stood up and got that clipboard that she knew she would have to sign.

 

"What is this from?" Carter asked him, grabbing the board from him.

 

"Don't know," Mal said, suspicion quickly coloring his voice. "It doesn't say anywhere on it. Do you need any help with this...nonsense?"

 

Feeling the package out, she determined that she would be able to handle it. "No thanks, Mal. I got this," she said as she slid the package towards her and walked towards the elevator. As she turned around and pushed the button, she saw Mal's surprised look at her. He always was when he thought he saw her pick up something heavy.

 

As the elevator ringed behind her, she walked backward with a slight smirk on her face that was partially hidden behind the upper lip of the box until the elevator doors closed in front of her.

 

As soon as Carter got to her floor, she raced toward her door and quickly unlocked it. If it was any other time, she would be wary of an unmarked package. She could already feel the excitement building up inside of her, yet this could, in fact, be anything.

 

She quickly placed the package on her kitchen table and used her keys to slice through the pounds of tape attached. Why must people use normal tape; it always put her on edge. As she lifted the cardboard flaps, she saw a single manilla envelope surrounded by black paper. Picking up the envelope, she realized that it was quite bulky. She tore through the adhesive flap and quickly took all of the papers out. The front page was a letter which said:

 

> Hello Carter Williams:
> 
> We would like to welcome you to the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, better known as SHIELD. We know that you must be confused as to the large package you have just received, but it is everything that you will possibly need. Make sure that you secure everything that is inside so that it does not get into the wrong hands. I will admit that you family connection made me skeptical of allowing you this honor, but we have talked. This means that you are both in agreement that this is the best place for you. As of now, you are a new IT personnel at a large electronics firm. This firm is relocating you to Florida in order to help set up their new base of operations. Of course, you may let your father know the truth, as we have already spoken, but that should be it. It is somewhat the truth, of course, you will be relocated to Florida. Along with the letter, all of the paperwork that you will need for both SHIELD and your cover. Once again, welcome to SHIELD.
> 
> Nicholas Fury, Director

 

Below his name was a fancy signature that honestly looked like a mess of scribbles and the imprint of what looked like an eagle. Carter felt like screeching, but that wasn't being very secretive. Instead, she looked through all of the paperwork that was included. In the stack was a plane ticket for Miami, Florida that left in a week, paperwork concerning her "employment," and an apartment lease agreement for living quarters that was close by to the "company." It seemed to be a place to stay in case certain members of her family decided to stop by wanting to see her.

 

But now, it was time for the main event. She pulled the black paper off of what was left in the box. On top was a jacket that had the same eagle imprinted on the shoulder. She pulled it out and hung it in her hands in front of her. It weirdly looked to be her size. She really shouldn't have been surprised by the slightly creepy government agency. Place the jacket beside the box, she joined a couple more in the same style. She also found pants, undershirts and a pair of combat boots.

 

Underneath all of the clothing, she could see a large metal container. Taking it out of the cardboard, she saw that it was a combination safe. She open and found all of her SHIELD paperwork. On top, she found what looked to be a badge with the emblem on it. Inside, she found her driver's license photo and the standard information that you would find on one, except for the bolded "Level One" stamped on it. Thankfully that was the day after she touched up her hair dye. It looked just like a normal picture. Placing the badge back into the safe, she looked through the rest of it. The paperwork inside of it contained her assignment and the entry-level work that she would be doing. Also, information that her level would go up the longer that she was around and the amount of work and level of security that she would be working with. At the bottom of everything, she found a computer. She could feel that it was a pretty hefty piece of equipment, but she knew that she could do more with it if she was given the time. She also found a phone on the inside that she knew was now her work phone. She was so wrapped into looking through the things that she flew when she heard a knock on the door, ready to bolt.

 

"Who's there?" she called as she dropped back down to the floor.

 

"It's your dad," came the voice on the other side.

 

Looking past the door, she could tell that he was the only one there. She opened the door to let him in and quickly shut the door behind him. His eyes locked immediately on the contents of the table.

 

"Where are you going?" he asked.

 

"Florida," she replied.

 

"Who are you working for?"

 

"This upcoming electronics company that's moving there. They want my help programming their new technology."

 

"Well, at least your cover is something that sounds like you. It helps when dealing with your nosy sister."

 

"Nina just likes to take care of her streak. Nothing wrong with that."

 

"It is when she gets Danni to help her," her dad said amused.

 

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Carter said, actually deep in thought.

 

Bringing her into his arms and out of her thoughts, "I proud of you," he said softly.

 

"He said that he talked to you."

 

"Only to confirm that you would never work for me and that I understood that I wouldn't ask you anthing thing outside of my need-to-know basis. This was all you, honey."

 

Carter felt content hearing this. She was afraid that this was her dad's doing, of someone trying to get into his good graces again instead of wanting just for being herself. Settling into his arms more, Carter thought through all that she would have to do. In fact, she only had a week before her next chapter began.


End file.
